One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Apex you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant garlic by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Garlic

Frost tolerance for garlic:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Garlic are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather which means that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant garlic in Apex is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant garlic and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your garlic may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your garlic indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Apex the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Apex is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Apex last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your garlic if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Apex

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Apex

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Apex.